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I'm managing the utility of the house and I'm sharing with another person. He asks me to provide my bank account number, so that he can transfer his money to my account when paying the utility.

  1. I wonder if it is safe to give out my bank account number?

    For example, if I'm correct, many online payments just need the account number to draw money out of it.

  2. Is giving out the bank account number safer than handing a check to another person, since there is also the account number printed on the check?

NoDataDumpNoContribution
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Tim
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2 Answers2

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Technically, no. There is very little security in the US for bank drafts. With your bank account routing number it is very easy for people to draw funds without your authorization. Another thing people can do is buy stuff online with "demand drafts". Essentially it works like a credit card number where the create an electronic version of a check to purchase things. There is generally no password, PIN or signature requirement.

That said, it is printed on every check you write so keeping it private isn't really practical. I'd make sure you trust anyone you give it to and watch your account statements closely.

An important thing to know is that a routing number isn't a one-way deal. If you give out the number for someone to wire you money, they can just as easily draft on the account.

zylstra
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JohnFx
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I think the answer depends very much on where you are.

I believe the other answer covers north america.

On contrast, in (continental) Europe, giving the account and bank number (IBAN and BIC) is a (the most) common way to enable someone to send money to you.

E.g. in Germany, you need much more than account number and bank number to withdraw money:

To "push" money to another account (wire transfer from your account to someone who gave you the other account + bank numbers), you either have to hand-sign a certain form, or (online) certain credentials (e.g. login & password / PIN + TAN) are needed. I.e. for defrauding you, the other would need to get your online credentials (for mTAN also your mobile phone, for chipTAN a TAN generator of your bank [easy] and your bank card, for (i)TAN your TAN list) or fake your signature.

There are also ways to allow someone to pull money from your account, see e.g. direct debit

For that you sign that the other side is allowed to withdraw specified amounts of money (at specified dates). This is either

  1. between you and the other (i.e. your bank cannot check and doesn't reject withdrawals that are not authorized). However, the other side needs to have signed a contract with their bank that they'll only try to withdraw money they're entitled to.

  2. or you sign such a thing with your bank (then they do know whether the other side is allowed to withdraw money, and you can tell the bank that you won't accept any further withdrawals from XYZ).

In the first case, the withdrawal technically still needs your approval. In order not to create a huge risk of fraud, the rejecting here is really easy: If you tell your bank that you reject the payment,

  • the bank will immediately roll back the transaction.
  • You need not give a reason for rejecting such a payment,
  • the bank is not allowed to charge you anything for the rejection, and
  • has to give you the interest you'd have gotten if the money had stayed on your account.
  • However, the bank can charge fees to the other side who tried to withdraw money from your account without approval.
  • And of course, it's criminal to try defrauding someone.
  • As the banks are much interested that this procedure is accepted as a safe way of payments, they're much after persons who try to defraud by this procedure.
  • But even if the one who tried to withdraw money was entitled to the money (and you just say "I don't pay"), the bank rolls back the transaction. In that case the other has to go to a civil court to get his money.

The practical rule is that the payment is approved if you didn't reject within the first 6 weeks after the bank sent the account statement. In other words, until 4 1/2 months after the withdrawal (in case you have a bank that does only quarterly account statements), the one to get the money cannot be really sure that he actually has the money.

I think (but I'm not completely sure, maybe someone else can comment/edit) that these two possibilities are also what is used with debit card payments (EC/Maestro card - these are much more common here than real credit card payments).

-- end of Germany specific example --

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cbeleites
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    I live in Poland, and it's a lot like that here, too. You would need login + password + a one-time password to transfer money into a random account. And account number would not likely help you: once you log in into the online banking system, you can see all the accounts and balances anyway. I'm not sure about those possibilities of withdrawing money from another's account, but when it comes to credit/debit cards, you can, afaik, chargeback just about any transaction and the burden of proof lies (mostly) with the party responsible for charging. – tomasz Feb 28 '15 at 19:23
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    I live in South Africa and here it is also very similar. We just call it "Debit Orders" (but the term direct debit, is familiar with IT systems). In SA you can also reverse any suspicious charges (with the online bank portals). And you can dispute any debit older than 30 days. In SA they are also implementing a system where you receive an SMS when a debit is requested on your account and you need to reply to authorise it. – Wasted_Coder Jul 25 '16 at 07:27
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    In fact, in Germany many businesses have their bank account number (IBAN and BIC) on their letterhead or website. "Here's my account number! Send me money!" – Fab Sep 26 '16 at 17:10
  • Agreed (+1). A special case could be Direct Debit – WoJ Jul 17 '18 at 14:43